I Wanna Love You But I'm Getting Blown Away
by citosol
Summary: - COMPLETE - Creese vs. Tideese - Post "Trapdoor". In ep 2x12 many things have occourred between Tidwell, Dani and Charlie, and of course these things are going to change their reciprocal relationships. Ch1: Tidwell POV. Ch2: Dani POV. Ch3: Charlie POV.
1. Copy That

**Copy That**

The redheaded man is staring at the vodka bottle that's still sitting in his fridge.

That morning at work he was sure: as soon as he reached his apartment he'd have thrown away all the alcohol he was able to find there. He was feeling guilty. For fuck's sake, if that bottle hadn't been in his fridge she wouldn't have gotten drunk.

But then he'd had _that_ conversation with her.

"_I thought things were going so well…"_

"_They were…that's when I screw up."_

The bottle is staring back at him while the engine of the fridge starts humming in protest from his standing too long in front of it with the door open.

"I do copy that" he says to the bottle, echoing the reaction he had that morning.

This bottle. It has to go. But what if he throws it away and then Dani leaves him? Of course it's not for the vodka itself, but for what the gesture means for him: a choice. Something he likes versus someone he loves but who seemingly does not love him back; a sure thing versus the unknown; its life as it used to be versus his potential life with her. _A thing that she seems not to want_, he reminds himself.  
He usually becomes an egoist at this point; fearing abandonment, he becomes the abandoner.

He grabs the vodka, closes the door, sits on his stool and puts his hand on the cork. The fridge sends a thankful murmur back at him.

Drinking it or throwing it in the sink? Starting to act like a free man again or keeping the faith in that complicated but still magnificent woman he's crazy about?

Tidwell clenches his teeth with resolution, breaths out and clutches the hand around the bottleneck.

As he removes the cork, he hears the telephone bell calling him from the pocket of his jacket. He stops his hand in the air and rests the open bottle on the counter, wondering if he was about to do the right thing.  
He recognizes the motif his phone is playing: the station wants him back.  
Damn, he loves his job, but it's really merciless sometimes! It doesn't leave you even the time to feel sorry for yourself!

"Tidwell." Is his resigned answer.

He lifts his head in surprise.

"Where?"

Muffled sounds come out his phone as he starts collecting the keys, the badge and his gun.

"Okay, I'm on my way. Thanks."

Crews was shot and now he is in hospital. That was all the operator said. He stares at his phone thoughtfully for a while, then he speed-dials Dani's number: she has to know that, and he must be the one who tells her.

The mobile is still calling her as he jumps in his car, but she doesn't answer. _Maybe she knows it __already __and she's with him now,_ he thinks and gets onto the road feeling a weight in his stomach.

**xxx xxx xxx**

God, how he hates hospitals. It's their smell, it's the fact that the elevators seem to leave you waiting forever. Or most probably it's because he thinks that in hospitals doctors are not interested in healing the person but only the disease.  
However, unlike most people, he never gets lost in the maze of identical corridors and rooms. He has the inborn faculty to get out of the labyrinth in the real world while he's totally unable to extricate himself from the twists and turns of his feelings.

So he exits the elevator at the right level, takes the right corridor and walks straight toward the room the nurse told him.

The door is open but Tidwell takes a look before enter.

He doesn't like what he sees.

Dani has turned her back to the door so the first person he actually spots in the room is a man on a wheelchair whose face he doesn't recognize immediately. Then suddenly he remembers him; he's Charles Crews Sr., Charlie's father.

The two of them are chatting in a low voice. But this is not the thing he doesn't like. Oh no, he's not thinking about the fact that Dani is meeting her partner's father instead of her lover's father.  
He spots Crews lying in the bed between them, but it is neither the tangle of hoses that are exiting and entering the detective's body that bothers him.

No. The thing that hits him like a punch in his stomach is Dani, _his_ Dani, holding Charlie's hand like that connection is the only thing that keeps Charlie alive.

Curling his hands into fists, Tidwell decides that it's not the right moment for him to enter the room. _I'm not jealous_, he thinks while turning on his heel, _I'm discreet_, _and they're sharing this moment only as_ _'partners'_.

But his thoughts come back to the bottle on his counter and to the decision he made.

"Captain!" a masculine voice calls him from inside the room.

He freezes.

A squeak of chair and he feels Dani's eyes on him. He doesn't know why, but it does hurt looking her back, so he enters the room keeping his gaze on Crews Sr..

"Oh, Mr. Crews!" He greets him feigning surprise and relief "I've found out the right room, finally!" he adds a smile "These damned corridors…all exactly alike! I've run the risk to go backwards and forwards forever!"

Reaching the edge of the bed, he puts his hands on his hips and shifts his eyes from Crews Sr. to Crews Jr..  
"Detective Reese." he greets her casually without even looking in her direction, then directs a nod towards Charlie "How is he?"

"They don't know for sure" Dani starts to explain**, **caressing her partner's hand "The bullet hasn't touched any vital organs, but he has lost a large amount of blood" her voice breaks a little "they are waiting that...you know…" an audible lump in her throat prevents her from ending the sentence.

Tidwell has to make a big effort not to look at her and a bigger one not to take her in his arms.

Charlie's father is giving him a piercing glance. He was studying Tidwell since he saw him hesitate in front of the door while looking at Dani. _Not finding the right room. Yeah._ He had thought.

"I need the bathroom" he establishes.

While he is driving the wheelchair towards the door, Tidwell and Dani hear him grumble "Better go look for a nurse to help me with this thing."

**xxx xxx xxx**

Staring at Crews turns stupid the moment they become the only two persons in the room with their eyes open. So Tidwell closes his, and tells her the only thing he knows she wants to hear.

"He's strong. He's not going to die. He survived Pelican Bay; a bullet in the chest is nothing compared with that."

Dani is surprised. For the first time he is using her partner's past in a positive way.

Then she stares at the Captain for a while.

"You're not looking at me on purpose."

He makes a grimace. "I'm not_ 'not looking'_ at you" he says in a resentful tone of voice, but he doesn't open up his eyes.

"Look at me." Dani stands up, leaving Charlie's hand. "Now".

He obeys.

And he sees the blood on her jacket, the blood on her hands, the blood in her hair and the blood on her face.

Charlie's blood. All over her.

It's very simple for Tidwell to imagine her while pressing her little hands on her partner's chest to stop the bleeding, or picturing her lips near Charlie's to feel his breath, searching for a glimpse of life. He can also imagine her calling his name, caressing him, warming him. And the pain roused by these thoughts runs through his heart like a sword.

But then he meets her eyes and all these thoughts don't matter any longer, he looks through her eyes and he's not able to restrain himself anymore: he launches himself at her and since she's doing the same, they meet halfway.

His arms encompass her body, almost engulfing her, trying to explain wordlessly how much he wants to relieve her suffering.  
Tidwell's lips are so near to kissing hers when they hear Charlie letting out a soft moan. Dani struggles free from Tidwell's embrace and kneels down before her partner's bed.

"Crews?...Crews? You here?" she asks hopefully.

Charlie blinks and turns his head in her direction. The light of the lamp brightens his face.

"I think I am..." he murmurs.

While Tidwell's arms are still hugging the air in which there was Dani's body, his eyes are fixed on her face as the most beautiful smile he's ever seen is appearing on it.

_I'll never be able to gain a smile like this from her,_ he considers, and his thoughts come back again to the bottle that's waiting for him on his kitchen table and to the decision he made. He puts his hands back on his hips.

"Well, try to be sure because I'm not going to ask him-" she nods toward Tidwell "-for another partner."

This sentence makes Charlie smile faintly, and Tidwell guesses that it must be some kind of code or joke between the two of them.

_I'm_ _not jealous. They're just partner__s__. He's seriously wounded. I'm not jealous._

He's feeling like an idiot once again; she has told him between the lines that she doesn't want things going that fast. Maybe it's a good idea to follow his instinct of self-preservation and show her he got the message.  
He has to let her go if he doesn't want to lose her.

And he knows only one way to show her he's not taking their story too seriously.

**xxx xxx xxx**

Tidwell is still watching Dani smiling at Charlie and caressing him with her warm glance.  
He tries to say something good, but "Dude, I'm so happy to see you walking among the living" is the only thing that comes out of his mouth.

Charlie makes a muffled affirmative sound, closes his eyes and comes back to sleep.

Dani sits back on the chair and explains "I'm going to stay here since Mr. Crews will return. You don't have to wait for me." Then she turns her eyes toward him, knowing he's going to stay too, because this is the way the things between them work; she says something she doesn't really think and he reads her mind and does exactly the right thing.

But even Dani Reese should know that it's dangerous to overdo things sometimes.

God. He _do__es_ like Charlie and he's _really_ happy Crews is getting well…but he can't help but wonder if Dani would have acted like that if he would have been in Charlie's shoes.

_I'm pathetic,_ he thinks, and muttering something about having to go back to station to do some paperwork he exits the room.

Dani raises her eyebrows and gives his back a look of surprise.

**xxx xxx xxx**

There is only his father dozed off in his wheelchair near his bed when Charlie wakes up later on.

The redheaded man looks around and tries to remember what has happened. He was in his house with his father; then Reese showed up at his door, acting strangely, and he doesn't recollect what she said to him or what he told her, but he does remember that he thought his partner had never looked so beautiful as she was in that exact moment.  
Then the doorbell rang again and then…Pelican Bay? Was that possible?

The only thing he knows for sure is that now he's in the hospital. He can breathe without any medical device, he has a large amount of hoses entering his veins and…wait, what's that?

"I've got blood on my left hand…" he says weakly

His murmur wakes up his father. "Charlie, son, you're awake…"

"There's blood on my hand" he repeats, scared.

"Oh, it's Dani-"

"Reese is here? Her blood? Is she wounded? Where is she?"

The monitor starts beeping faster.

"No, no Charlie, keep your hair on, she's not wounded and she's not here now" the older man says softly, putting a hand on his son's arm, and when Charlie calms down he continues "She _was_ here, and she has never stopped holding your hand since you got into the ambulance. The blood is yours; she tried to stop the bleeding by pushing on the bullet entrance on your chest, so she got her hands dirty."  
_And her hair as she rested her cheek on your chest to feel your heartbeat, and her body and her face as she brought her lips near yours to feel you breathing_, but he doesn't add this; he suspects that there're some unsolved things between his son, Dani and their Captain and this is not the right time nor the right place to raise this subject.

Charlie seems to have difficulty in processing all the informations his father has given him.

He was shot. How come he doesn't remember a thing like that?

Reese with him all the time. Holding his hand.

"Where is she?"

"She went away an hour ago. I don't know where she is now." Charles Sr. looks straightly at his son. "Your Captain" he pauses to choose the words carefully "He seems strange when she's around you…"

"Was he here too?"

"Yes. But he left as soon as he saw you were getting well."

"And Reese left with him…"

"No, she stayed here with you, waiting for me"

Charlie turns his head away and closes his eyes.

"He's jealous." he coughs feebly "Tidwell, I mean."

His voice becomes lower and tired as he adds "They're lovers, and he was afraid of me since he found out about Reese and me sleeping accidentally in the same hotel room…"

The older man frowns and his thought goes to an Italian car with bullet holes in its body.

**xxx xxx xxx**

Tidwell stops in front of the bar and sighs heavily.

_The Lucky Seven,_ reads the sign. He knows he can find there what he wants. What he needs.

What _they_ need.

Very funny. He would have never imagine himself doing a thing like the one he was about to do to save a relationship. A thing like _that_ usually ends up in _ruining_ a relationship.

_Dani, I'm doing it for us._ He thinks while entering the bar.

**TBC**

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_I have to thank **Cigarettes And Moonlight** very much for her wonderful work as betareader. This is her first work, and to me it's magnificent!_

_**A/N:** Nor the characters, nor the title of this fic belongs to me.  
Dani, Charlie and Tidwell belongs to NBC and __"I want to love you but Im getting blown away_" _it's a part of the beautiful Neil Young's song "Like a Hurricane". You'll discover that I'm going to use this song a lot in this fic._

_Thanks for reading and commenting (if you want!)_

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	2. That's When I Screw Up

**That's when I screw up  
**

That evening Dani sits alone in the dark at her kitchen table.

The radio is playing an old Neil Young song while she stares at her mobile.

Tidwell hasn't called her since he left the hospital.  
This is unusual behavior for him. He usually calls at any time to tell her the most insignificant things, like he did that Sunday morning, when he called her to say he had discovered his neighbor owned a car just like hers and that from then on he'd think about her any time he seen it; or like that afternoon, when he'd phoned her to ask if it was too early to buy her a big present; he had just seen a dress that had the right color/shape/length and he definitely wanted to see her in it; or that evening, when he'd told her she had to turn on the TV because they were airing the new season of "Cops".  
Or like the other night, when he called to whisper in her ear that he was missing her naked body under him like crazy.

_Damn!_ She thinks, and speed-dials Tidwell's phone number. She isn't going to let him get off scot-free though: he'll pay for having made her miss him.

The telephone rings several times before he gets it.

"Tidwell."

He doesn't sound happy, but she hears music in the background, and some voices. Cheerful feminine voices, to be more precise. She hangs up.

No one calls her back.

**xxx xxx xxx**

The next morning is her first day at work without Crews.

Driving to the crime scene Dani finds herself staring at the empty passenger's seat.

She has called Charlie an hour before, but his phone was turned off. So she phoned the hospital and they told her that Charlie had had a good night, that the wound had stopped bleeding and that his hematologic levels were slowly getting back to normality.

Oh god, right now she'd want to be in that hospital, forcing Crews to mutter his Zen quotes, just to see he's really healing well. It's a physical need: she has to go to see him as soon as possible otherwise she's going to go crazy.  
She loves her work, but it's really merciless sometimes: you cannot take a break when a murder's victim is waiting for you somewhere.  
She knows her mind would be at Crews' all day long though.

Dani would have never thought she'd miss him that much.

**xxx xxx xxx**

Behind the yellow tape there is Captain Tidwell in person collecting the victim's personal belongings. Right now he's searching a brown wallet and giving orders high and low, organizing the crime scene.

Dani stops dead in her track and looks at him.  
His hair is less greasy this morning, just the way she likes it, and even if she's mad at him, she can't help but be fascinated by the way in which he performs his role as Captain right now.  
She knows she's intrigued by men who show a dominant temper because they're the most exciting to control. In these moments, she remembers what seduced her at first.

But he hasn't called her back last evening, and he's going to pay for that.

Finally Tidwell spots her, and his expression changes a bit, but he recovers himself almost immediately, or maybe she just imagined it in the first place.

"We're going to inform his roommates-" Tidwell starts to say**,** giving a nod to the body "-they live near here-" he gestures toward the car she's only just left "-you drive."

Saying that, he steps around her. His arm brushes her arms, and a whiff of his cologne sends her vivid mental pictures of their first night together.  
Myrrh. In her mind this scent will be bound to that night forever.

"Uh, and today I'm your partner." Tidwell adds casually before entering the passenger's door.

Dani sees two officers exchange an amused look.

She walks to them. "Something funny in this crime scene?" her hands goes at her hips as she balances her weight on her right foot.

"No Ma'am" answers the younger.

"So you two are laughing because…"

The blond one comes forward, looks Dani up and down and then settles the eyes on her face "…because." He grins.

The woman holds his gaze for a while then with a cheeky smile turns on her heel and leaves.

The younger officer simulates a couple of coughs but she hears clearly him exclaim sarcastically _"Yeah, today…"_ in between them.

She tightens her lips and keeps on walking._ He's going to pay even for that_.

**xxx xxx xxx**

"How's Crews this morning?" is the first thing Tidwell asks her when she enters the car.

She wasn't expecting a question like that.

"Who told you I have called the hospital?" temporizes Dani studying him.

"I just imagined it" a forced smile appears on his face.

She looks at the road and starts the engine. "He's getting better."

He nods slowly.

"Give him my best wishes when you go to the hospital later."  
Tidwell is still staring at her as Dani turns to look him in the eyes. She opens her mouth but '_who told you I'm going to go to hospital later?'_ is a stupid question to ask: he's a detective, he _detects_. Plus he seemingly _knows_ her well.

So she gapes and turns her face to the road, both to hide her uneasiness and to drop the argument.

Dani collects her thoughts. "You didn't give me the time to look at the body, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I did it on purpose. Turn there."

"How can I question the victim's roommates if I haven't seen anything?"

"You don't have to. And we're not going to question them. Not today, at least. But, most of all, I don't want you to talk in that house."

"_What_?" she turns her head so fast that her neck starts to ache almost immediately.

"What?" asks Tidwell back quietly, and then "Stop here."

He exits the car and closes the door while she's still gaping.  
Tidwell bends down to see her through the open window "Aren't you coming?"

She frowns. "No. I'm not."

He grabs the frame of the window with both hands, stares at her and adds "Oh yes. You are."

Dani raises one eyebrow in disbelief.

"I'm your commanding officer; you'll do what I say."

The order gives a shiver down her spine and a jolt in her belly. Both in a bad and in a good way. Damn! She is mad at him for so many reasons right now, she shouldn't think about how much she like him being dominant at work.

Dani exits the car, still weighing his words.

When she reaches Tidwell, he bends down and whispers in her ear: "Look hard at the roommates while I talk to them and then tell me what you've seen".

Leaving her with a questioning look in her eyes, he stands up and walks to the house.

That cologne. That _damned_ cologne.  
Dani fights back the mental picture of herself riding him on his bed and of him coming inside her, holding her tightly, making her inhale his scent.

**xxx xxx xxx**

Tidwell rings the doorbell while Dani looks furtively at him, and she can swear he was doing just the same because his eyes makes a sudden move shifting from her face to the door.

_He's strange today_. This thought pops up suddenly in her mind. She hasn't noticed that before.

"Yes?" asks the red-haired young woman who opens the door.  
Her smile fades as soon as she spots the guns and the badges on the strangers' belts.

**xxx xxx xxx**

Dani stands up in front of the window of the living-room. This is the best position to watch someone while remaining unseen; the annoying reaction to looking at the direct light behind you prevents anybody from watching you back.

Tidwell is two steps ahead of her, his hands on his hips, weight balanced on the right foot. In front of them, sitting on an old brown coach, there is Paula, who opened the door, and Darren, a big blond guy who is resting his hand on the redheaded woman's shoulders.

Paula hasn't stopped crying since Tidwell told her about Doug's death.  
Dani notices that there is nothing Darren can do to console her though, and she thinks to know why: at the moment Paula doesn't want someone who console her; she only wants to be left alone with her pain.

The things Tidwell tells them are few, detailed and…_strange_. Is the first time she actually sees him doing that kind of job.  
She can't help but think about what Crews would have done in his shoes.

_Of course_, she thinks smiling, _he'd have behaved in a strange way too_.

**xxx xxx xxx**

Entering the car Tidwell looks straightly at her.

"So" he starts "tell me what you've seen."

Dani looks at him like he's mad.  
She's still angry with him for the previous night, for the comment they gained from the two agents on the crime scene and even for him wearing that cologne.  
She rolls her eyes: "A woman and a man who were told their roommate won't ever come back." Is her sharp reply.  
Oh yeah, she has 'almost' forgotten to add to the list the fact she was angry because Tidwell has prevented her from doing her work as well.

"Okay." Smiles Tidwell sarcastically "Now Detective pretend to be here with your superior officer and tell me what you've _seen_" he tilts his head to one side, looking at her.

Even if Dani is not sure she actually likes his methods, she puts her head on the headrest and looks in front of her. A yellow butterfly is flying above the windshield and its hypnotizing dance help the woman in focusing her thoughts.

"That woman. Paula." She pauses "She definitely loves the victim. From what I saw I can tell Doug is…_was_…her boyfriend and she isn't going to get over his murder soon. I don't think she's good for the killing."

She turns her head and looks at him. "Close?"

"Go on" Tidwell exhorts.

Her eyes go back to the butterfly.

"I can't place Darren." She gestures slowly in the air with her right hand, palm turned up "He's more concerned for Paula than for Doug. Maybe he's new; maybe he hasn't known Doug for a long time. And Paula seems not to care about his presence-" Dani half-closes her eyes and raises her index finger "-or better; she counts on him being exactly where he is, near her with a hand on her shoulder."

Dani turns again on the seat, raising an eyebrow.

"And how do you judge this behavior?" asks Tidwell patiently**,** tilting his head.

She thinks for a little while.  
"Paula is lucky to have someone like him in her life in a moment like this. Someone who's with her even if she doesn't either know she needs him. I hope she's aware of that." Dani tilts her head "She shouldn't take him for granted." A shade passes through her eyes as she adds "Or maybe he's the murderer and that's why he's so calm."

Dani notices that Tidwell was smiling during the first half of her sentence and that was nodding hearing the second half.

The Captain looks hard at her.  
"Paula and Doug were co-workers. Doug is a professional bodybuilder, she's her personal trainer. She trains him for ten hours-a-day. They meet in the morning, they work out, they ate and then work out some more again. Six days per week, ten months a year. Not to mention they travel the world together when he attends some contests." He raises an eyebrow and before Dani could say anything he adds "Darren, on the contrary, is Paula's boyfriend and Doug's roommate since they were eighteen."

She frowns.

"Yeah-" nods Tidwell making a grimace "-who could have ever guessed that…"

"So-" she blinks, an unsure tone in her voice "-do you think the things I said can actually help us?"

His eyes capture hers and stay there for a while.  
"Maybe."

Dani isn't totally sure he's talking about the murder.

Not shifting his glance Tidwell starts getting near her face slowly. He stops a few inches before her lips. It's up to her now, like always. He never took what he longed for without her permission.

She looks at his parted lips and then turns her face away from his.

"You didn't call me back yesterday."

Tidwell closes his eyes, rests his back on the seat and sighs.

"I know."

**xxx xxx xxx**

Dani was walking, or even better _running,_ to the hospital, later that afternoon.  
She has lost time by taking a silent ride bringing Tidwell back to the station, but most of all she stayed an hour in a fruit and vegetable market trying to buy a present for Crews.  
And she thinks she found something he's really going to like.  
Fruit, of course, but like he has never seen in his life: the _sapodilla_, a large bulbous berry, 4-8 cm in diameter, very much resembling a smooth-skinned potato. Inside, its flesh ranges from a pale yellow to an earthy brown color with a grainy texture akin to that of a well-ripened pear. She knows Charlie has an obsession with pears.  
The greengrocer has assured her that its flavor is exceptionally sweet and very tasty. He said it has been compared to cotton candy or caramel.  
Plus, the sapodilla tree has even a story. Charlie is not going to recognize her: she's bringing him a fruit with a story: totally a non-Reese-like thing.  
And, she has bought _two_ fruits, guessing that Crews would have liked to share them with her.

She can't wait to see his eyes while looking at the sapodillas and hearing the story of its tree, so she almost runs down the corridor between the elevator and his room.

Opening the door Dani wonders if she is still at the greengrocer's.

A large amount of fruit is covering every inch of Charlie's room: oranges, bananas, strawberries, mangoes, papayas and others she can't name. All put in sumptuous and colored baskets.  
She looks at her small pale green plastic bag.  
_I'm an idiot: everyone knows he likes fruit_, she thinks, and hides it behind a curious basket that's in a precarious equilibrium on a chair near the door.

Charlie isn't alone. There are at least four people around him.

Bobby is patting his former partner's arm in a greeting gesture, and the Officer's look meets Dani's when he stands up and walks to the door.

"Detective Reese, you're here finally" he apostrophized her "the visiting hour is almost ended"

Was that a reproach?

"I had to work-" she hurls back, _and I had to deal with Tidwell's strange behavior and I wanted to surprise Charlie with something special_, "-I couldn't come before" is her sharp answer.

He leaves, muttering something that sounds much like '_He's your partner, work could have waited'_, while she approaches Charlie's bed giving a surprised look towards the three girl around him.

"Hi Reese!" Charlie greets her cheerfully

_Thanks God, he's really getting better_.

"Detective Reese, we meet again" smiles a blond and beautiful girl sit near Charlie's right side.

Dani doesn't know her name or the names of the two other girls near her, but she does know them. They're the three 'badge bunnies' she questioned once for the murder of that elementary teacher.

She gives a questioning look at Charlie.

He smiles "Oh yeah, you don't know their names…these are Marie-" the blond one smiles at her too "-Kristie-" the black one cheers her with an hand "-and she's Cathy".

"Cathy." Dani repeats, looking hard at her.

"I'm Bobby's sister" the girl adds with a cheeky smile.

"I know." _And I know you kissed Charlie once._

Dani is marking out the territory with her glance.

"So, Reese-" says Charlie trying to change the awkward topic "-haven't you bought me anything? I think I saw a bag in your hands" his childish smile brings Dani back from her thoughts.

"Crews…" she awkwardly starts to clear herself.

Her answer and the amused look Charlie gives her make the three girls laugh.

"I like making fun of her-" he explains to his public "-because she's very funny when she's uncomfortable".

Dani rolls her eyes but smiles secretly inside her. Definitely Charlie is recovering his health_. Just give me some Zen and I'm going to sleep well this night._

"I've got to go now. " says Marie out of the blue.

"Oh yes-" Kristie adds with a knowing smile "-_Kevin_ is waiting for you-"

"-and you don't want to make a Police Captain wait for too long" Cathy ends the sentence, smiling too.

Marie bends down and kisses Charlie on his cheek. "I think tomorrow I'll be able to tell you if your boss is a good cop or a bad cop" she whispers before standing up and leaving.

Charlie freezes.

The girl storms off the room and the other two starts chatting again, but Dani isn't here anymore.

For her the time has suddenly stopped after she heard Tidwell's name, _her_ _man_'s name, coming out of Kristie's lips.

**TBC**

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

_Once again I have to thanks **Cigarettes and Moonlight** very much for her great and fast work as betareader, she's precious. And I love her natural comments: they make me think this story doesn't completely suck._

_And I want to give you a little sneak peak:  
Coming soon: **Ch3** "The Buddha Said 'Each Mistake Is A Rebirth'" (Charlie POV): Charlie goes home from hospital but, who's gonna to take care of him?_


	3. TheBuddhaSaid 'Each Mistake Is a Rebirth

**The Buddha Said 'Each Mistake Is a Rebirth'  
**

"Reese, you well?"

It is the first thing that comes into Charlie's mind or, actually, not really the _first_, but surely the most important.

Dani is still staring into space and she doesn't answer.

Cathy and Kristie exchange a questioning look but decide that's better not to ask Charlie the reason for them becoming suddenly darker, or better still, they start collecting their things, blathering about having to go home to prepare for a date-for-four.  
They kiss Charlie in turn and greet Dani exiting the room.

She doesn't greet them back.

Charlie looks hard at her while she's staring at the floor.

"Reese-" he starts "-I'm sure there's a mistake-"

"-I don't know what are you talking about." she cuts him off, raising her eyes to him.

"Reese…"

"What were _we_ talking about?"

He isn't sure but her eyes seem brighter in the cold light of the hospital lamp.  
Out of the window the sky is becoming darker as the sun is fading down the hills, and he doesn't like to see her like this.

_What he's doing to you, Dani?_ He wants to ask, but he knows she isn't going to answer. Dani has time requirement for things like these.

"_We_ were talking about what you brought me" answers Charlie, smiling feebly, still gazing intensely at her.

Judging from the grimace she makes he can guess that this topic is not good either.

"I-" Dani starts to say absentmindedly "-I bought you a stupid thing, it's there, somewhere, it's not important for you to see it"

Finally, something he is prepared for!

"Oh, _nothing is so important like the thing someone tells you that is not important_." He smiles brightly "I mean: if you say '_it's not important'_ that means it's really important, or, better, that it's _so_ important you don't want to-"

"Oh no, not _this_ again! For god's sake Crews!" exclaims Dani standing up "I'll give it to you, so stop _zenning_ me!"

She's upset, but he swears she's hiding a smile of relief, or something like that, when she turns to reach the chair near the door.

**xxx xxx xxx**

"Sapodillas!" exclaims Charlie opening the plastic bag "I can't believe you found these little treasures!"

"And I can't believe you know them" Dani tells him, partly happy for his happiness, partly disappointed not to have been able to surprise him but mostly resigned for him always knowing _everything_ about fruits.

He looks at her. "I want to tell you a thing about this fruit-"

"-I know" Dani interrupts him "From the sapodilla tree they extract the gum to make chewing gum" or, at least this is what the greengrocer said her.

"No, I mean: _yes_, but this is not the thing I was about to tell you" Charlie pauses and Dani looks straight into his eyes as them become suddenly softer "This fruit reminds me of you."  
He sees her frowning "Outside the skin is hard, but inside-"

"-Crews…" Dani warns him

"-_inside_ it is delicate and sweet and…_vulnerable._" he ends his sentence ignoring her admonition.

They look at each other for a while.

"We only have _sex_." Dani says, out of the blue.

Charlie's pupils become larger for an instant.

She gulps and then looks away "It's not a big deal. I had sex with a ton of men before…_him_-" she pauses "-he's free, I'm free, we are all free to do everything we want." She turns back to look hard at him again "With _everyone_ we want."

The resolution in her speech makes Charlie thinks she is saying those things more to convince herself than him, but her last glance makes him wonder if…  
_No. Don't even think about_ that.

"_Only sex_, uh?" is his unconvinced statement.

"Yes. Only sex." Dani rolls briefly her eyes "Okay: _very_ _hot_ sex, I have to admit."

Maybe is because this is the very first time they touch this question, but Charlie would have never guessed that picturing Reese while having sex –_hot sex,_ he reminds himself unwittingly- would have made him become hard; but the evidence is here, under the thin blankets, and he can do only a few things to hide it: so he bends his knees, praying that Dani hasn't noticed anything.

A doctor and a nurse enter Charlie's room.

_More public, how lucky!_. He tightens his knees.

"Okay Detective Crews" smiles the doctor "Your exams are very good, so as we promised, you can go home." He pauses. "Of course you have to avoid using your left arm at least for a week before start the physical therapy, but unless you live totally alone, I think you could manage this at home."

While the nurse starts collecting the thermometer, the glass and the upright near Charlie's bed, the redheaded suddenly saddens "To be honest I don't think I-"

"-he doesn't think he's going to have any problem with that and he's happy he's going home so early" Dani interrupts him.

"Good" says the doctor looking at Crews "I'll go and prepare the papers for the discharge, so your fiancé can dress you and bring you home." Greeting the occupants of the room he exits the door.

Charlie's still looking at Dani questioningly.  
When the nurse exits the room too, he tilts his head "Reese, but I _do_ live totally alone…Ted is in Jail and I sent Rachel away…"

"Don't worry. Even if I'm not your fiancé-" she makes a face "-I'm going to stay with you for the next ten days: I've still got a ton of unpaid leave to spend, I think this is the right moment to ask for them." She looks away adding casually "And I think you've got _hundreds_ of empty rooms in that mansion."

"But Tidwell…"

"He doesn't need to know where I am when I'm not at work or-" she gulps "-with _him_."

"Reese…"

"Stop it, Crews. It's the only thing to do." She frowns "Would you like to spend the next two weeks in the hospital, huh?"

"They're only seven days…"

She pretends not to hear him "Or, who is going to take care of you? Bobby? With a wife, two children and a…a badge bunny sister to look after too? Hm?"

"Reese…"

"So. Where are your clothes?" she puts her hands on her hips, giving him her best _I-don't-want-to-hear-another-word-about-this-argument_ look.

He had to admit it has never been so simple for him surrender to something.

"Okay. We're partners, and partners give partners a hand, right?" he says to persuade more himself than her.

"Right." Dani answers, convinced.

"It isn't a big deal, right?"

"Right."

Wrong.

Charlie discovers soon that being almost naked in front of Dani _is_ a big deal for him. Especially after having imagined her while having _hot_ _sex_.

"Maybe I'm able to dress without your help…"

"I don't think this is possible Charlie-" answers the woman carrying his pants "-you cannot use the left arm, you can't button these, so exit the bed and let me help you."

"But I'm wearing only my boxers" _And a half erection_. Is his protest.

"Charlie, I saw your chest when the paramedic cut your shirt, and I don't think your legs are so special"

"Of course you did…but I was unconscious…I _didn't know_ you were seeing me." A quick glance "And the legs are not the problem."

He raises slowly his eyes, meeting hers.

"Okay." She blinks, acting suddenly like she's uncomfortable "I'll call a nurse. But later on I'll have to undress you at home, so prepare yourself. We have to get over this thing otherwise you'll have to stay in the same clothes for ten days!"

"Okay. We'll invent something"

"Okay."

"Okay."

**Xxx xxx xxx**

Having Reese in his bedroom in the evening hours is strange.

Having to get naked in front of her is even stranger.

But the strangest thing of all is that is Reese that is going to undress him.  
_It's the first time I'm here with a woman I'm not going to get laid with._ He hopes she cannot read this thought on his face as they stare uncomfortable at each other.

"So…" he starts

"Crews, do you remember? It's not a big deal"

"Yep. It's not a big deal…"

"No, it isn't."

"Reese-" he makes a grimace "-maybe I'm able to undress myself without your help, I'll call you if I get stuck…"

"Yes Crews, maybe you'll succeed in exiting your pants, and then?"

"But, Reese…"

She sighs "Okay." Another sigh. "I think I found a solution."

With a resolute look in her eyes she starts unbuttoning her shirt.

"Reese?!" Charlie opens his eyes wide "What the hell are you doing?"

She stops, looking directly at him "You don't want to get naked in front of me because you fear you'll be somehow disadvantaged, don't you?"  
He raises an eyebrow in an affirmative gesture. She smiles "If I'm in my underwear too, you are not going to feel that fear. Right?"

Maybe this is actually the only thing able to leave him speechless.  
How can a concept be so perfectly logical but still totally crazy?

"Crews, we are only partners…" she half closes her eyes gesturing vaguely in the air with a hand, trying to minimize the things.

"We are only partners…" he repeats, hypnotized.

"And I want to help you out."

"And you want to help me out…"

"Yes."

"Yes…"

She nods and goes on unbuttoning the shirt.

"Wait!" Charlie stops her.

"What again?"

"I'm nervous…" he explains "Maybe it's this silence…" he pauses "Reese, do you know what the Buddha thought about the silence? When the Buddha knew that the questioner was not in a position to understand the answer to the question because of its profundity, or if the questions themselves were wrongly put in the first place, the-"

"-Crews! Stop _that_, please!" Dani frowns, exasperated "Just…just put some music on, for fuck's sake!"

Charlie gapes and tilts his head "Yeah…I think it's a good idea…" he grabs the remote and pushes the _play_ button.

"Neil Young?" Dani asks raising an eyebrow, and then she smiles finishing unbuttoning the shirts "Not bad…"

_Oh my god, _very_ bad indeed_, thinks Charlie.  
How come she is not aware she's giving him a ready-made strip-tease?

He guesses something seeing her purple bra under her opened shirt, but when she exits her pants he's sure he's going to die. Dani is wearing the purple panties he gave her for Christmas.

And her body is _gorgeous_.

"Reese, I don't think we can go on with this thing…I…_you_-" he clears his throat "-_you_ are Tidwell's woman…and I'm feeling like I'm seeing things I don't have the right to watch…"

"Crews, just think we're only partners, think about me as if I'm…I don't know…Bobby…" she says, and her voice sounds strange, softer when she adds "And I'm not thinking about _him _right now, so…just do the same."

"Reese, I can't. Really." He looks away from her "I…I…your panties…" he licks his lips "They're a see-through panties, you know? I can actually see..." he searches the right words but his mind doesn't want to work "…_you,_ under the fabric."

"Then, turn the light off" Dani whispers to him, taking her shirt off.

Charlie _knows_ it isn't a good idea, but he obeys anyway.

She walks toward him in the dark. He can hear her steps on the parquet and he can see indistinctly the shape of her magnificent body in the gloom. This is the first night of new moon and the room is illuminated only by the faint light of the stars.

Dani stops in front of him.

"You ready?"

_BobbyBobbyBobby-God,WhyAreYouWhispering?-BobbyBobbyBobby_

His voice exits way more rough than he plans "Ready for what?"  
_No. Wrong answer. Try again._  
"I mean, yes."  
_Better._

Dani starts unfastening his belt slowly.

_YouAreBobby,BobbyIsUndressingMeAndISurelyDon'tWantToFuckBobby_

Then she works on the button and the fly.

"Dani." Charlie whispers. "We have a problem." He adds while putting his right hand on her waist, feeling how soft and warm her skin is, stopping her.  
"I think I want to fuck you." He growls.

She fixes her eyes on his.

"I was afraid you would have never said that."

**TBC**

**________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

_Many thanks go to my beta, **Cigarettes and Monlight** for having helped me even with this chapter._

_It was very easy to write. Very funny: it seems that Creese is always easier to write for me, even if I love Tideese as well...  
I hope you liked this chapter because the next (**Ch4**: "The Dark Nights Of The Soul") will be the last one._

_I have to thank very much the people who reviewed the story till now, I appreciate your comment a lot. (Some of them were VERY useful to improve my fic!)_


	4. The Dark Nights of the Soul

_This is the last chapter of the story. Thank you very much for having read it, I loved each and every comment you left._

_This chapter is not betareaded (yet) because my beta has disappeared, but I can't wait more, I have to post it because I want to end the story before 'life' restarts.  
So I'm asking for your help: if you find some mistakes or bad use of words just let me know and I'll edit them._

_Uh, one more thing: "The dark nights of the soul" is a sentence that Tidwell said in 2.01, but "_The Dark Night of the Soul_" is actually a treatise written by Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross; neither Tidwell nor I have read it, so any reference to it is for narrative purpose only. If you want to know what it really says you have to read it!_

_And since this is the last chapter of the story I strongly recommend you to read the previous three chapters to fully understand any implied reference._

_I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading!_

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**The Dark Nights of the Soul**

Tidwell enters his apartment later on that same evening, and puts the shopping on the counter.  
He's just started placing the things in the fridge when the doorbell rings.

A beautiful blond girl smiles at him as the Captain opens the door.

"Marie…" he smiles back.  
Shifting from the doorframe he adds "Come in."

"So, this is where you live" Marie says looking around as he grabs her coat.

"Yeah. Not too big, not too small, but with a breathtaking view on L.A." Tidwell nods and smiles again, looking her up and down. She always wears miniskirts and it's impossible for everyone not to notice her beauty.

"Do you want something to drink?" He asks her, walking toward the fridge "I have…" A quick look inside it "Hmm…orange juice, seltzer water and…oh yeah. These beers…"

"I'll take a beer. Thanks" Marie says sitting on his couch and crossing sensually her legs.

Tidwell grabs two beers, opens them, empties one in a high glass and gives it to her. Then he sits in the armchair across the couch.  
She shifts in her seat so that her bare thigh is exactly under Tidwell's glance. He doesn't look away.

"May your wishes become true" she raises her glass in a cheer.

He nods, raising his bottle toward hers.

Marie sips the beer and makes a grimace "This beer…It's really…I mean, this beer tastes like-"

"-a soft drink?" he anticipates her comment. "Yep." he nods, closing briefly his eyes.  
"I've made the decision to avoid buying alcohol…you know-" he smiles lightly "-for _her_."

She smiles tenderly back.

Then she sips again her 'fake' beer before adding "I did what you asked me to." Another sip "I let her imagine I was about to date you". Marie's eyes capture his.

He nods yes.

The girl becomes thoughtful as she uncrosses her legs and puts down the glass.  
Then she looks straightly at him.

"What?" Tidwell asks, going on the defensive.

"Are you sure that it was a good idea?" the girl pauses "I mean, why don't you simply tell her you _love_ her?"

He thinks a little bit before answering her.  
When he decides he can open himself with Marie, he nods.  
"I have to speak her _language_ if I don't want to lose Dani." He raises his eyebrows "Because _I don't want_ to lose her."

She gives him an understanding smile.

"Dani has time requirement. I can't say '_I love you'_ to her unless I want to make her run faster than a train-" he makes a grimace and a gesture with his hand "-out of my life, I mean!" A sip on the beer. "I wanted to give her something to think about. I hope she looks inside her and she finds me somewhere."

Marie stands up, still smiling, and steps toward him.  
"I promised a thing to Charlie, though."

She stops in front of him and Tidwell raises his eyes to meet hers. He gives her a questioning look.

She bends down.  
"I promised him tomorrow I'll be able to tell him if you're a good cop or a bad cop."

Tidwell frowns.

"Usually I have a special procedure to determine that" her lips become closer to his "But I think that with you I've already got the answer." She shifts her face, kissing him on his cheek and stands up.  
"If Dani doesn't find you inside her heart-" Marie gives him a knowing glance "-call me."  
She steps away from him sensually, reaching her coat.

"Oh boy…" he whispers to the empty couch.

"She is lucky to have you. You know?" the girl says while putting her jacket on.

Tidwell joins her near the door giving himself airs "Oh yeah, you're lucky if you have your own Tidwell-" he nods yes with his eyes half closed "-there aren't many of us around!"  
But his conceit wanes fast under her tender look and he opens his heart to her once again "No…the truth is _I_'d be lucky if she could just think the same…" he admits smiling.

The blond girl looks hard at him for a while.

"Oh, what the fuck!" she exclaims out of the blue, and grabbing suddenly his neck, she locks her lips with his, surprising him with a deep kiss.

Tidwell opens his eyes wide and tries not to kiss her back and not to take her in his arms.

Marie breaks the kiss, smiles at him and licking her lips she confirms "Definitely…good cop." then exits his apartment waving her hand and leaving Tidwell speechless in the doorframe.

**xxx xxx xxx**

The night is fragrant and dark around Charlie's house: the lights of LA stay there, down the hill, and their glimmer doesn't reach the windows of his bedroom.

Inside the room a sudden nightly breeze moves the curtains behind Charlie's back, carrying away his last words  
'_Dani. We have a problem._ _I think I want to fuck you'_

and her reaction to them  
_'I was afraid you would have never said that.'_

Her sentence is still echoing in Charlie's mind when their lips meet gently in a hardly touched kiss.

"It will be only sex, Charlie, you know that?" she whispers on his lips.

They settle their heads in a different angle, closing their eyes, and share another light kiss.

"I know-" this time are his lips that lean on hers for a moment "-only sex-" he murmurs.

Immediately after they come close again and now their tongues meet briefly, parting only to let him underline "-only _hot_ sex. "

Dani comes back again on his mouth and on his tongue, devouring them.

"Yes Charlie, only _hot sex_ -" she murmurs, breaking temporarily the contact, then she returns to him letting herself go in a deep and passionate kiss that keeps them busy for a little while, until Charlie moves away to whisper "-oh yes, _just_ _like_ the _one_ you make with _Tidwell_…"

The inflexion Charlie gives to the sentence makes Dani open suddenly her eyes just to find his staring seriously at her.

She frowns and stares back.

The hand she has put on his neck comes back to her astonished face, moving away a lock of hair from her cheek. Then her eyes look briefly at something to the right before she turns round, walks to the door, picks up her clothes and exits the room.

Charlie nods yes, making a grimace.

"I have imagined that…" he murmurs, smiling bitterly in the dark.

**xxx xxx xxx**

"Wake up Crews! It's late, and we have to organize the things!" exclaims Dani storming in his bedroom the next afternoon.

Charlie blinks a few times. Than looks at the thin frame of his partner.

He sits on the bed "I thought you had gone home…" he says while passing the right hand in his hair.

"Don't be silly Crews!" she takes the blankets away "Now I'm going to help you taking these clothes off, then you'll have a bath and then you'll wear those" her last words are followed by the launch of a blue tracksuit on his bed.

She has never looked at him while doing those things.

"I don't own a tracksuit, where did you find this?" he asks, trying to focalize what could have happened since the night before.  
Oh yes, because he only remembers her demanding lips on his, then his decision, and after that Dani storming out of the room.

"At the station" she answers in a half voice opening the windows.

Charlie then sees the LAPD symbol on the sweatshirt, on the left of the zip, and notices that Dani wears the same tracksuit she wore the day she appeared drunk at his door.

"Did you went to work this morning?" he asks, confused.

"No Crews, I went there only to ask for the leave, and I took the clothes-" she turns to him but Charlie notices she doesn't look him in the eyes "-I figured out you don't own a thing like this because, you know-" she stops, and her gaze shifts from his wounded shoulder to his feet "-I thought it reminded you the clothes you wore when you were…_you know_…"

"In Pelican Bay."

"Yeah."Dani raises her eyes and meets his for a short and awkward moment. Charlie takes the chance to talk to her.

"You saw Tidwell." Not a question.

"No." Her eyes come back to his feet. "He was holding a meeting or something like that for the case, you know, the bodybuilder's case, and he was in his office with the curtains closed and the door shut."

"Dani, listen-"

But she cuts him off almost immediately.  
"-Marie showed up to see you this morning, after I came back home. I told her you were sleeping, so she's going to visit you later." She pauses. "She left a message for you." This time Dani looks him straightly in the eyes "She said your boss is a good cop."

"Dani…" his look softens.

She raises an hand to stop him.  
"She said another thing too." Dani sits on the bed near him and her next words seem to come out from a very deep place.  
"Tidwell had told her to make me believe they were dating."

Charlie searches her beautiful brown eyes for a moment, and then grabs her arm, to attract her attention.

"I don't regret anything."

He tightens the grip on her arm "And I don't bear a grudge against you. Even if you were about to be with me only because you wanted to prove something to him or-" he pauses "-to _you_."

Her eyes let him know his words have hit the mark. Dani nods slowly.

Then she stands up, freeing her arm from his grip, and waits a little bit before adding "I thought a lot this night and this morning, before and after having seen Marie."

"And…?" he asks

"I understood the things you _didn't tell_ me yesterday evening."

"And…?"

"You were right."  
She lets go a sigh of relief.

He smiles, and he is about to tell her that was been _very_ difficult for him doing the right thing the night before, when she starts unbuttoning his shirt efficiently, surprising him and making him lose the thread of his thoughts.

"C'mon Crews, or Marie will find you still in bed!"

Charlie knows her very well and he guesses the argument is off-limits for now, but he wants to know one more thing.  
"Just one last question Reese-"

She stops briefly raising an eyebrow and giving him a questioning look.

"-I want to know if you made a decision about Tidwell…"

She smiles mysteriously.  
"I did."

Charlie lets Dani undress him and wonders how would have been being with her, being her man for one night, letting her hands touch him in a different, more gently and intimate way.  
He tries not to listen to that thin voice inside his mind that is telling him he would have wanted more than that though.

**xxx xxx xxx**

When Tidwell comes back to the station that evening after having been at Doug's fitness club, he finds it half-empty.  
_Yeah_, he remembers suddenly, _the fire-prevention training course was programmed for this evening_.  
He forgot about that. But he has had a _billionth_ things to handle that day, and now he has a ton of paperwork to do. He guesses he's going to stay in his office at least since midnight.  
Plus Dani is spending her vacation only-God-knows-where.  
Someone told him she was here in the morning, but she hasn't left any message and she hasn't called him.  
He hasn't heard her voice since yesterday afternoon, when she threw in his face the fact he hadn't called her back the night before.

Definitely his plan isn't working.  
He thought he was good in planning things.  
Maybe it works only for the job.

"Tidwell, you're really out of your mind today…" he murmurs to himself noticing that he forgot even to arrange his office: both the door and the curtains are still shut like they were in the morning.  
He's shaking his head when he opens the door.

But he freezes.

**xxx xxx xxx  
**  
Tidwell stands open-mouthed in the doorframe: he could scarcely believe his eyes while closing the door slowly, hoping that no one else has seen this wonder.

The lights are off and the office is illuminated only by the light of the candles _she_ put on his desk.

And there, in the soft gloom, sitting on his beloved leather couch, legs crossed, there is Dani - _his_ Dani, his_ love, _his_ everything_ - wearing that red dress he told her he would have liked to see her in.

It's the best thing he's ever seen in his whole life.  
_She_ is the best thing he's ever seen in his whole life.  
Most of all because he totally understands the meaning of her presence here.

He would want to run toward her, to take her in his arms, to hold her tight, and to swear her eternal love, but he knows he has _Reese_ in front of him, and she's a hard woman: she needs to be the one who marks time.

He has to act differently with her.  
"You bought it." He whispers, smiling.

She nods yes and stands up slowly.

He glides his gaze onto her body "I knew that." His voice is hoarse when he adds "Right shape, right color, right length." A nod. "Definitely."

Dani nods yes again, smiling, and starts walking toward him.

He gives her an admired look and whispers "You're _so_ beautiful…"

She stops in front of him. The high-heeled shoes she's wearing make herself find almost at the same Tidwell's eye level.

This time is Dani who starts getting near to his face and stops a few inches before it.

She must be very sorry with him, because she's playing the _I-crave-for-it-but-you-don't-have-to-know-it_ game with him. This is usually his own specialty.

Tidwell loves her even more for this gesture.  
He thinks that she's giving him a very sensual peace proposal, and he knows the after-quarrel sex is the best of all, but he wants to play a little bit more with her: he likes to provoke Dani because he's discovered she becomes hotter if she has to wait for something she longs for.

"You didn't call me, you know?" he murmurs licking his lips, a stern look in his eyes.

She nods yes, smiling lightly. '_I know you're doing it on purpose',_ her eyes reads.

"I mean, _since_ yesterday morning…" he wears a fake sulky expression.

She nods yes again slowly, bits sensually her lower lip and shifts her glance from his blue eyes to his mouth, making a step forward. Her body is now fully pressed against his.

Enough is enough. Tidwell can't hold out any longer, so he reaches out his arms, holds her tightly and catches her lips.  
Dani holds him back and kisses him passionately, letting herself go completely.

After having satisfied their mouths and their tongues, the two lovers part their lips and stare at each other. The desire in his eyes is mirrored in hers.

Tidwell doesn't need to hear her saying _those_ three words, he simply can read them in her look.  
And Dani knows it.

"I was wondering-" she finally murmurs, smiling "-what are those '_dark nights of the soul'_ you were talking about when we met for the first time?"

Tidwell smiles back, casting a glance at his leather couch.

"They regard love -" he caresses her hair with his hand and his glance "- mystical experiences -" his hand follows the curve of her face down to her throat and to her breast "-and rebirth…"  
Saying this he starts pushing backward, guiding her toward the brown couch.

"_Love_, uh?" she pokes him without stopping grinning.

"Yeah, _spiritual love _to be honest, but I prefer another interpretation…"

"And what would it be?" her legs touches the coach and she tightens her hold on him to avoid losing her balance.

Tidwell pushes her backward again murmuring "I think it's better for you to experience it than to talk about it…" he raises an eyebrow.

They exchange an understanding look.

Falling down on the coach, kissing each other greedily, undressing mutually and starting making love passionately are only the first steps of his explanation of how they can confess their reciprocal love without saying a word.

**THE END**

**________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

_Okay Creese fans: I'm REALLY sorry. I beg your pardon! I know you wanted something else, but I don't like infidelities...  
One day, when Dani will leave Tidwell (because we all know that Dani is going to leave him...) I'll be able to write some Creese again. I swear it._


End file.
